Spring Cleaning Your Health

It seems that we are about to travel, go out, see friends, and more–the pandemic seems to be waning, and it is just in time for spring. A lot of us are thinking of the spring cleaning of our houses and our closets.  We have to do something with all of the things that we ordered from Amazon that we didn’t need.  Some of us even got hooked on the shopping network so those easy to clean pots and pans, that huge airfyer, and more that now take up valuable counter space need a new home because we don’t cook any more than usual.  Our closets have the same shirt that we didn’t like to begin with, but we kept ordering it because it was a good deal.  We may have outgrown our clothing because let’s face it, we watched a lot of television, and exercising alone was no fun. So our house and closet need spring cleaning.

Let’s not forget our health–our health may need to have a serious spring cleaning, you know the type where you go under the bed, take the rug up, retouch the paint, and more. Even if you have gone to the doctor during the pandemic, now would be a good time to have a consultation with him about your general health.  Remember, we are about two years older.

Sitting and talking with the doctor is an important step, letting her go over your immunizations, blood work, exams, and discussing what we need to do as we mature. When was the last time you got a tetanus shot? How long has it been since you had a colonoscopy or bone density check?  Don’t forget about your flu shot and your pneumonia shot.  How about the shingles shot?  A lot of us don’t think about the shingles shot. The shingles can cause hair loss that will never grow back, but even worse, it can cause blindness.

Having blood work will test for diabetes, high cholesterol, and other things.  Check with your doctor to see if you need to take a mammogram and pap smear yearly.  If they say no, and you feel you do–do it.

We also need to have our eyes checked, not just for new glasses, but for glaucoma, cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, and other eye disorders.  It may be time to change from the optometrist to the ophthalmologist.

Since getting our annual teeth exam was not deemed a necessity, we may not have been able to see the dentist as we should. Never underestimate the value of taking care of our teeth.

There is one other doctor you may want to visit–the dermatologist.  As we mature, we may need to change our facial products, even the vitamins we take in order to ensure we are doing all we can without going under the knife (I am too scared to do that).

When we know that we are as healthy as we can be, we will be able to clean our closets, cabinets, and house.  Self-spring cleaning is a must because “thisisyourbestyear”.